Currently, bodily tissues can be imaged in a number of different ways, including radiation, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). These methods have different benefits and drawbacks in terms of cost and accuracy.
One important application of the imaging of bodily tissue is the screening of breast tissue for the early detection of breast lesions and carcinoma. The primary tool for such imaging is mammography, which involves a low-dose radiographic imaging of breast tissue structures. Mammographic imaging works best when breast tissue is radiologically differentiated, i.e., when there is good contrast between ductal, lobular, nodal, and fatty tissue types. Because breast tissue becomes more differentiated as a woman matures, mammography tends to work better on older patients than for younger patients, whose breast tissue is more dense and whose tissue types are not yet as radiologically differentiated. Mammography also does not work well on patients who have had breast augmentation, such as breast implants, or on patients who have had breast surgery, including lumpectomies or mastectomies. Another problem is present-day mammography machines do not image all of the breast tissue. Specifically, breast tissue close to the thoracic wall generally is not within the field of view of mammograms, so diseased lymph nodes in this area will not be diagnosed early. Moreover, there are also concerns about variations in the quality; reproducibility, and resolution of mammographic imaging. A yet further problem with mammography is that it has a high rate of producing false-positives, i.e., indications that suspect tissue masses are malignant that turn out to be benign after further testing; and even more critically, a high rate of false-negatives, i.e., malignant tissue misdiagnosed as nonmalignant.
Despite these limitations, mammography is still regularly used because it remains the easiest method for the early detection of carcinomas without considerable time, effort, and cost. Furthermore, it can detect some non-palpable carcinomas that may have been otherwise missed, and can sometimes help rule out benign palpable masses.
Them is a need for a system and method to provide better imaging of tissues, and particularly for a system and method for providing reliable early detection of breast carcinomas or other diseased tissue without a high number of false-positives and false-negatives.